WHEN ONLY CAKE WILL DO

Some days (more often than not) chocolate is necessary, occasionally the only thing to eat is lots of buttered toast, but yesterday I needed cake.

I spent the morning wondering how best to tackle the cake craving only managing to come to the conclusion that it must include chocolate. I went to the Broughton Delicatessen for lunch and bought a salad box of chickpeas with red peppers and feta, couscous with dried fruit and nuts, and spinach with green beans and baby corn, but somehow didn't want a slab of the fabulous looking chocolate cake that they had on the counter, I had to make my own to satisfy this very specific urge.



So, having eaten my lunch and read this week's copy of 'Grazia' (the only acceptable way to read celebrity gossip) I made a quick trip around my favourite blogs and quickly found a banana bread with chocolate and cinnamon sugar on Orangette. As our freezer is overflowing with very over ripe bananas this was perfect. If you can't wait for your bananas to defrost then do what I do and just chuck them on an oven shelf as the oven is warming up. I had to make a couple of small adjustments to the recipe, I don't own a square cake tin (another thing for my wish list) so had to use a 20cm round springform tin which meant that the cooking time was about 10 minutes longer. I also didn't top the cake with the full 2 tablespoons of sugar because, as I was sprinkling it on, it seemed a little too much. Anyway, the cake was delicious and is still delicious today. The perfect antidote to my craving.

BAKED FETA

Our kitchen is a frustrating place to be at the moment, I have been trying to take pictures but it is impossible. I normally rely on our bright under cupboard lights and cooker hood lights to light the worktop properly as our main lights are completely pathetic. However, a while ago one of our under cupboard lights went on the blink, literally. It flickered on and off before deciding whether to grace us with its presence while we prepared dinner and now it is just off and if we even try to switch it on in the hope that it will show a sign of life it interferes with our radio reception, and as BBC Radio 2 is our usual dinner accompaniment this is not good. Now, as if this wasn't annoying enough, our whole cooker hood has stopped working, no extractor fans and no lights. So we are in gloom and, as I'm sure you all know, gloom and digital cameras do not mix. Without photos I am never very inspired to post but after my recent long absence I decided that this lack of photos could not put me off.

On Saturday it was cold here, in a way that shouldn't happen at the end of July, with all the flooding in England recently I can't really complain but I do still feel pretty hard done by this summer. We went for a walk in town and got wet before deciding to go for a drink while we decided what to do about dinner and somehow found ourselves back at the old standby of lamb burgers in pitta bread but this time the burgers were flavoured with zahtar and the pittas were spread with baked feta for a salty taste of Greece. I have touched on baked feta once before but it deserves a place in the spotlight.

BAKED FETA

1 block of feta cheese
1/2 red onion finely chopped
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Drizzle of olive oil

Place the feta in a large square of tin foil and top with the onion, lemon juice and oil. Seal the foil parcel and sit it on a baking tray. Place in a hot oven (a precise temperature doesn't matter here as we're talking cheese softening not precise cookery so any medium/hot setting will do) and leave for 20 minutes before unwrapping and devouring. It is good as a dip or as a sandwich in pitta bread with salad. This is best eaten straight from the oven as it does harden up again eventually.

ONE MONTH ON...

...and I'm finally writing again. Is anyone still there, are you still looking? I'm sorry. I've been writing and rewriting this post for a week now wanting to make up for my slovenly approach to blogging but all I have is this, a brief summary and a promise of better things to come.



Our holiday in the Lake District was just what we wanted and needed, some sunshine, a little too much local ale, and a gorgeous cottage. But since then life has taken a turn for the worse. We've had too much to think about and on top of it all have barely seen summer.

I was starting to feel exhausted coming to work in a procession of soggy shoes, the bottom of my jeans wrecked from soaking up the endless rain, and giving the local takeaways way too much business (I'll introduce you to our favourites one of these days). But, last week, things started to look up. I found bargain flights for our trip to Chicago and New York in September (and am already dreaming about sitting in Madison Square Park with a Shake Shack burger), we went out for a great dinner and drank cocktails until 3am, we made brunch and went for a walk in the Botanics, and then last Wednesday I turned 28.

I don't believe in working on my birthday so we woke up a little late and the sun was finally shining. Chris went to pick up my birthday cake along with some croissants and pain au chocolat from our local bakery. We slowly got ourselves ready, booked a three night trip to London to coincide with a one day festival, and headed out to eat lunch on the terrace at Oloroso. One relaxed lunch, one and a bit bottles of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, two sale tops, one new bottle of Marc Jacobs cucumber eau de toilette, a lip gloss, and a few cocktails later and all was looking a bit rosier in our world. We drank some more, ate some cake, enjoyed the day and on Thursday woke up to more rain.

Still, all was well and I had a birthday party to plan. On Saturday Chris and I went to buy mojito ingredients (mojitos three times in one week is possibly a little excessive no matter how much you kid yourself that all that mint and lime goodness cancels out the rum) and food. Having spent an age trying to decide what to make we eventually spent Saturday afternoon preparing courgette fritters, pea and garlic crostini, caponata topped crostini, cheesy feet shaped biscuits, houmous, baba ganoush, and some cocktail sausages from Crombies. We cooked our food, drank with our friends, and saw the sun come up at 5am. Needless to say Sunday was a painful experience with the one bright point of a very juicy cheeseburger.

QUICK UPDATE

Just a brief update before we jump in the car for four nights in the Lake District.

On Saturday night I walked for 26.2 long miles. Saturday was miserable but despite the mud at the start it was surprisingly fine and, as it is nearing midsummer, the sky started to lighten at 3.30am so by the time we reached the sea it was dawn. Anyway, aside from the supportive cheers of drunk guys out on a Saturday night, one of the highlights was stumbling past three very supportive husbands who had driven down to the route with a camping stove to make bacon sandwiches and tea for their wives and their walking group. The wives had continued walking but the husbands still had plenty of food left so were doling out bacon rolls to anyone who wanted one, which we did and it revived us amazingly well at 5am. We finished shortly before 9 and I went home and fell into bed incapable of movement. If you fancy doing the moonwalk next year I recommend it, just do the training and be prepared to lie in bed all day afterwards, oh and try not to be too grouchy when the wonderful volunteers tell you there's not long to go even though you still have five miles left and are already exhausted!

STRAWBERRY BREAKTHROUGH

More hugely uninspired days in the kitchen last week but on Sunday we went to Taste of Edinburgh. It was busy and we didn't see any of the cooking demonstrations (mostly because I had wanted to go on Friday to see the lovely Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall but was at work and wasn't so bothered about the Sunday people) or attend any of the tutored drink tastings but we did eat a few of the restaurant sample dishes. The stand outs were squid with chorizo from First Coast, Slow Cooked Pork Belly from Tigerlily, and Pistachio, Curd and Chickpea Cake from David Bann and along with all these small dishes we drank a few (more or less) drinks.

It was fun and I would have enjoyed it enough but there was one event that shines above all others, I ate a strawberry and I enjoyed it enough to buy two punnets to take home. Anyone who knows me will know that this is nothing short of a miracle. The next day Chris wondered if my strawberry enjoyment was down to the cava, or maybe the beer, or perhaps the capirinha, but I ate them the next day and was similarly wowed so, joy of joys, I now like strawberries (well, sometimes, if they're in season and the juiciest sweetest strawberries imaginable).

After my hallelujah moment Taste was over but we were just getting going so headed off to a bar for mojitos. A few in and we needed food so, bad girl that I am, I ordered food (or should I say carbs) for the entire table - fries, garlic bread with mozzarella, bread with houmous, and olives - all washed down with prosecco. Yes it tasted incredible and yes I had a killer hangover on Monday at work.

p.s - the cupcake bra is nearly finished so should be able to post a picture of it before the walk on Saturday!

I'M NOT MAKING EXCUSES BUT...

let me apologise for my silence. It wasn't intentional but I have done nothing in the kitchen for a long time. A very busy two weeks has lead to a lot of meals out and too many takeaways.

It all started when, at the last minute, my Mum popped up for a few nights and we took off for a two night whirlwind tour of Scotland. We saw lochs, mountains, ospreys feeding their chicks, Glencoe, Ben Nevis still topped with snow, even a red squirrel, and rounded it all off with a trip to the Blair Atholl Highland games.

I spent the rest of the week catching up on sleeping and working and then on Saturday went for a 20 mile walk as my longest training session prior to the moonwalk. The funny thing about pushing yourself to walk for 20 miles is that you start to appreciate the little things a lot. I have never appreciated a cheeseburger as much as I did after walking solidly for six hours, taking off my shoes at home was heaven, and an hour long hot bath is the ultimate in luxury when every muscle is screaming. I'm feeling back to normal now, just in time to do it all again and then some on the 16th.

After spending Saturday is exercise gear when Sunday came and a long lunch beckoned I was ready to feel attractive again. I donned a Diane von Furstenberg wrap, blue/grey tights (it may be June but it is still not bare leg weather in Edinburgh), and dark green heels and set out for lunch at Oloroso to take advantage of their fantastic Sunday lunch deal using a voucher we were given for Christmas. Smoked salmon followed by an incredible (and immense) plate of medium rare roast sirloin, spotted dick with custard and a couple of glasses of wine and my sugar and iron levels were back on track after the walking. If you're ever in Edinburgh on a sunny day I definitely recommend heading to Oloroso and grabbing one of the sought after roof terrace seats to enjoy what is probably the best view that can be had while enjoying your tipple of choice in the city.

BAKING AND WALKING FOR CHARITY

Apologies for the extended silence. After a very uninspired week I had grand Saturday plans involving a lot of baking and my first ever attempt at making pasta. However, a phone call stopped it all (except the baking but more on that shortly) in its tracks and instead we jumped in the car and headed north for the night. After a boozy night in Kinross we headed to Loch Leven castle to sit in the sun and finished off the day with fish and chips on the waterfront at Anstruther in Fife.



Luckily before we left I managed to get the planned and necessary baking done. I know that baking doesn't seem like the most obvious urgent task but for the past few months I have been baking cakes to sell at work. I am taking part in the Moonwalk in Edinburgh on June 16th along with three workmates and the cakes are a small part of our fundraising efforts. As Team Cupcake we are making the most of our name by baking (and eating) lots of cakes and will be wearing decorated cupcake bras on the night (not just for fun, it is one of the requirements of the walk), I may even let you see the final design. So, I made a chocolate and banana loaf using the recipe from 'How To Be A Domestic Goddess' and a gingerbread cake using Nigel Slater's recipe in 'The Kitchen Diaries'. We also had passionfruit cake, lamingtons, anzac biscuits, and chocolate brownies. I'll be baking more for Tuesday so if anyone has any great ideas feel free to share.